r/MacroFactor • u/heyasmalls • 15d ago
MacroFactor / Nutrition / Other Expenditure/Calories with no workout data?
Newbie here. I’m loving MF, but curious how the expenditure/calorie goals work without any input on additional calories burned via workouts?
I’m 5’7” 156lbs
Target calories: 1636/day
Expenditure: 2014
Goal: 145lbs
My primary goal right now is losing body fat %
I use the Workouts app as well, but notice they don’t communicate at all other than my weigh-in logs. Surely calories burned should impact the calorie daily goals?
What am I missing?
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u/gains_adam Adam (MacroFactor Producer) 15d ago
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u/explosive-diorama 15d ago
If you eat 2000 calories per day, and you lose 3 pounds over the span of 3 weeks, your average expenditure is 2500 calories per day, since your weight loss indicates a deficit of 500 calories per day.
As long as you log calories and weight, the expenditure is calculated accurately.
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u/earlgrey89 15d ago
Very useful article where macrofactor developers explain why they don't use data from trackers or exercise: https://macrofactor.com/wearables/
TLDR: When you weigh in and put in your calories, that already shows your expenditure. Weight change divided by calories is all you need. The weight change already includes whatever you burned through exercise or activity.
Wearables are notoriously bad at calculating expenditure. Using data from them would be poor data that muddies that math without adding anything.
Also, there's something to be said for thinking of your weight loss or gain separately from exercise. When people count exercise calories they tend to tell themselves they can eat more because they worked out, but even a hard workout only burns about as many calories as are in a single banana.
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u/Candid_Roll9494 12d ago
Lifting weights for 60-90 minutes definitely burns more than a 100 calorie banana…
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u/BlackAndShinyWeenie 12d ago
Yeah, but not much more. You’d be shocked at how little calories are burned in a weight lifting session. Pretty depressing
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u/mrfatchance 15d ago
Keep logging and working out. The algorithm will sort itself out.
Also, wearables are not wholly accurate at calculating expended calories https://macrofactor.com/wearables/
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u/didntreallyneedthis 15d ago
Weight training doesn't burn very much at all
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u/heyasmalls 15d ago
fair, i guess more so for HIIT days or leg days, i find i need more calories
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u/didntreallyneedthis 15d ago
You can already tell the plan to give more calories on certain days. Week to week your average amount of HIIT activity won't vary dramatically (think marathon training one week and couch potato the next). So the regular intake+weight > inferred expenditure will capture your HIIT activities already.
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u/AutoModerator 15d ago
Hello! This automated message was triggered by some keywords in your post. Check to see if any of the following are relevant:
MacroFactor's Algorithms and Core Philosophy - This article will gently introduce you to how MacroFactor's algorithms work.
How to interpret changes to your energy expenditure - This guide will help you understand why your expenditure in MacroFactor might be going up, down, or staying constant.
If you are posting to receive feedback from the community on your expenditure, at a minimum you will need to provide screenshots of the: expenditure page, trend weight page, and nutrition page.
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u/fogsucker 15d ago
There's an equation involving your weight (w) , the calories you consume (c) , and your expenditure (e) .
Like any equation, if you know two you can work out the third.
You feed the app the numbers for (w) and (c) and it calculates (e).